Guilt And Worries
by MajselajseL
Summary: An oneshot built on what might could have happened back when Madara was going blind. MADARA & IZUNA BROTHERLOVE.


_**An oneshot built on what might could have happened back when Madara was going blind. Madara & Izuna brotherlove. **_

"Talk to me." Izuna urged for about the hundredth time that hour.

"… No." His brother deadpanned yet again.

"Please talk to me."

"No."

"Enough with the secrets! You _have_ to talk to me! Something is obviously plaguing you!" No response from the older Uchiha. "_Please_."

"No."

"Please, leader!" Izuna almost begged in hope of getting a proper reaction. The older Uchiha didn't do as hoped though; he just looked bewildered at him. "... All right, if you don't want to talk as a leader, please talk me as your _brother_ which I have been begging you for the last few weeks!"

Still no response.

Izuna sighed, before clutching his spiky hair in frustration. Why did his brother always have to be so damn stubborn and complicated about the personal stuff?

He sighed again, before muttering about possible reasons and whatnot.

A few weeks back, Madara had suddenly begun to take a distant to him and looked even more troubled than usually. Izuna wasn't sure of the reason, but he knew it wasn't just battle strategies and the protection of their clansmen anymore, but also a deep and more personal reason. He was sure of _that_ fact; he just couldn't figure out what the problem actually was no matter how much he wracked his brain...

"... Is it your eyes?"

"_There's nothing wrong with my eyes_!" Madara snapped annoyed and obviously offended.

It wasn't exactly what Izuna had been hoping for, but at least he got a reaction.

"... It is, isn't it?"

The Uchiha leader narrowed his eyes at his brother yet again, before turning his head and staring determined out of the window.

**XXX**

**A few days later;**

"It's fine. I believe we can take care of the rest on our own." Izuna smiled to their nurse the second she was done wrapping their injuries up. The nurse simply nodded in response, before bowing and leaving without another word.

The second she was out of the door, Izuna stood up and made a move to leave the room, but turned to his brother first before doing so.

"I'll go find the bandage. Need something else? I might as well take it with me while I'm there."

"Hn." His brother answered absent-minded.

"All right… I'll be right back. Don't kill yourself in the meantime."

Madara didn't answer; he simply glanced down at his body and inspected the wounds with a small frown plastered on his features.

Meanwhile Izuna left the room.

**A few minutes later; **

Izuna hummed quietly to himself, as he gathered the bandage and other important stuff from their medicine closet.

His good mood abruptly stopped though when some rare sound sounded from the end of the corridor and immediately caught his attention. Frowning, he waited to see if the sound would be repeated.

It did.

And it was unbelievably enough a whine.

"Aniki? _Aniki_!" He yelled as he hurried down the corridors to the room he believed his brother was still in. "What's wrong? Is it an enemy? Is it the Senjus?"

He almost dropped what he had in his hands when _seeing_ the problem.

Blood was running down the older Uchiha's cheeks and his brother was clutching his hair in obvious pain, fighting to strangle the cries that threatened to escape his lips.

He immediately ran to his side and grabbed the older male's shoulders in comfort and panic.

"What's going on? _Why are your eyes bleeding_?"

"_How should I know_?" Madara retorted annoyed through gritted teeth, before trying to free himself from his brother's grip. "My eyes just suddenly started hurting…"

"Do they hurt…?" Izuna asked worriedly. "Wait, don't answer that! Of course it hurts…" A moment of pained silence. "Wait here, I'll go find something cold to soothe the pain! Just lie down and try to relax in the meantime."

"… Hn."

Izuna ran to the kitchen and back again as fast as he could, meanwhile carrying a whole bucket of cold water and a pack of cloth with him. The second he was back down beside his brother on the floor again, he wetted the cloth and pressed it to the older Uchiha's eyes and indirectly pushed him (Madara) down onto the sleeping mat he had been sitting on the whole time.

"Is it any better? Does it work? How do you feel?"

"... A bit better."

A faint and painfully obvious relived _"Good,"_ was all Madara heard, before he closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax, well-knowing that his brother was there to "watch his back".

**XXX**

**The following night around 4 o'clock; **

Madara woke up at the feeling of something kicking his leg. Instantly, he looked up and searched for whatever that might have attacked him, only to discover that it was his restless brother who lay on a sleeping mat next to his own.

Izuna had moved his very own sleeping mat to his room the exact same day his eyes began bleeding, along with other things that might come in handy like bandage and different kind of medicine.

He had of course refused in the beginning, but his baby brother had been persistent and never gave him a choice. They were therefore at the moment lying next to each other just like all the other times when one of them was hurting.

"Why are you still awake…?" Madara asked casually, when realizing that the younger Uchiha actually wasn't sleeping yet. It wasn't a surprise though; ever since that day, Izuna hadn't gotten much sleep. He was restless because of worry and when he finally managed to fall asleep, he would wake up a few hours later because of a horrible nightmare.

"I can't sleep..."

"You should try though."

"I did."

"Izuna, go to sleep."

"But, I –"

"_No_. The only reason you're awake is because you're worried about me."

"Well, um... –"

"No, just sleep. I'm fine."

"But –"

"Sleep, Izuna!"

"… Hai…"

**XXX**

**A few weeks later; **

Unlike the Uchiha Clan Head (Madara), Izuna had yet to give up on finding a cure for the misery his brother, actually them both, was going through known as blindness. He had used each day so far since it hit by remerging through old attics, family prides and reading whatever he came across in his search.

This time he was looking through their basement once again. He was just about to give up for the day, when;

There it was! That was it! The solution on their problems!

_Replacement. _

**Small time shift; **

"Brother!" Izuna called, as he ran around the house in search for the older Uchiha. "Surprisingly enough", he found him in his (Madara's) room, lying on his bed. "Aniki! I think I have found a solution!"

"What solution…?"

"To your… _condition_." Madara frowned at first, but quickly gained interest and "looked" curious up at his brother. "I did some research and found a few books about transfusions."

"Transfusion?"

"Exactly!"

"… And just where exactly are you going with this?"

"Think about it for a moment!" Izuna threw himself down onto his knees beside his brother's bed. "If it's possible to transfuse body parts like a kidney, even a heart or the smallest bones in the whole body (they sit in the ear), why shouldn't there be just the slightest chance that it might work with eyes as well?"

Madara "stared" calmly at the eager Uchiha for a few long seconds.

"… Even if it did work, where do you suggest we find another pair of eyes?"

Izuna's optimistic smile immediately fell and got replaced by frustration.

"… That's a detail I hadn't considered yet, but… it shouldn't be impossible! I mean; consider how many who dies in battle every day. We can take one of those eyes next time! It can even be tomorrow!"

"… Neither of them have Mangekyo Sharingan. How am I supposed to remain as strong as I am now?" Madara pointed out. "Besides; how are we going to hide the fact that plucked a pair of eyes out from a person from the rest of the clan? Especially when it's from one of our own clansmen."

Izuna bit his lip in despair and stared pointedly down at the floor.

"… I don't know… I don't have an answer for that… yet."

Madara raised a surprised eyebrow.

"_Yet_?"

"Hn… We can't give up just yet. Not when we're this close…"

"Izuna…"

"No, Madara! We can't let such a trivial thing as were to get a pair of eyes stop us!"

"Well, just what do you suggest then?"

"... You could... take mine." Izuna suggested in a small voice.

The older Uchiha stared bewildered at him.

"... What? What did you say?"

"You could take my eyes."

"_**What**_?" Madara exclaimed in disbelief. "Are you mad? That's not an option!"

Izuna looked perplexed at his older brother for a second. He then sighed softly. He had sort of figured that Madara wouldn't approve of the idea at first, but he knew he would agree eventually.

"But what other choices _do_ we have?" He argued calmly. It was time for them both to realize that drastic method was the only way out of the mess.

"… Surely not that one! I would rather die than raise my hand against my younger brother!"

"… But I deny just standing helplessly at my older brother's side and watch him suffer!"

A long silence and then;

"... It's still not going to happen."

"… Think of the clan for a second, Aniki. It can't survive without you here to lead us."

"… They have you." Madara argued quietly with a small, perplexed frown on his features.

The younger Uchiha shook his head.

"They need _you_. I'm just your brother, the second in command. I'm irreplaceable, but you're even more so. Everything will crash without you…"

"Izuna…"

"… Everyone knows I'm not strong enough to lead. It has always been that way…" The younger Uchiha brother's voice almost disappeared as he finished the sentence. They were both quiet for a few moments. "… You and I both know that I can't survive without you… and to be honest, I don't want it any other way."

Madara placed a comforting hand on top of his brother's; a silent way of saying; _"The same goes for me."_

Izuna nodded shortly even though he knew the older Uchiha couldn't see it, and squeezed his older brother's hand shortly in return.

"… Neither of us can live without the other." He then whispered. "Nor can the clan survive without you to lead its members."

Madara "watched" his younger brother calmly, as he (Izuna) indirectly tried to convince them both to do the right thing by considering the reasons obviously once again.

"If the clan falls, we both die… It's the only option we have." He concluded. "There's no way out…"

"For now." Madara calmly pointed out. "There still is the opportunity of finding an other solution before this one becomes the only option."

Izuna nodded weakly.

"We should do it soon though. Just in case…"

Madara didn't answer for several minutes, and then asked in a deadly serious voice;

"… What if it doesn't work?"

"It will." Izuna answered without hesitation.

"Answer the question."

Izuna got a grim look on his face as he answered;

"Then I'll kill us both."

Madara nodded satisfied. That was exactly what he had wanted to hear. No matter what people believed, his brother always had been a warrior, and a strong one at that.

"One last question."

"Anything."

"Just why... Why would you want to do this?"

"Because you're my brother, and therefore one half of me." Izuna "explained" with a for once true smile and sorrow in his deep eyes.

A brief silence, and then;

"Okay."

"Hn?"

"We'll do it if there's no other way out of the situation."

"Deal."

**XXX**

**More or less a week later;**

"Forgive me."

A desperate scream tore the sky apart that night and was quickly followed by thin lines of blood running down pale cheeks.

It was quickly all replaced though by a confident and encouraging smile. The smile belonging to a person that knew he had done the right thing.

**XXX**

**A few days later**** in Izuna's room; **

"Good morning, Izu." Madara greeted his brother that morning, while opening the curtains in said person's room in order to let in sunrise in; it had become a new habit he presumably never would get rid off...

"Good morning, Aniki." Izuna smiled, while sitting up before stretching sleepily. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're not hurting, are you...?"

"No, I'm just fine."

"... You look pale to me." Madara pointed out with a frown.

"I'm always pale." His brother deadpanned. "And so are you."

"You _know_ what I mean."

"And you also know that I'm actually fine no matter what your guilt tell you." Izuna pointed out with a tired expression and a gently smile. "And now while we're at it; no, I don't hate you for what happened – not even if it wasn't me who suggested the transfusion. A.K.A., I don't hold grudges and I'm fine, so you can stop worrying already."

A long silence followed with the older Uchiha looking lost the whole time, until he finally muttered;

"... Right."

He made sure to return his brother's smile in hope of at least convincing him when he couldn't convince himself.

They both knew though that his guilt would never disappear no matter what happened.

At least not until the day he would die.

**Tadaaah~! An idea that popped into my head a few months back - I first managed to finish it today though... ****^.^" ;P******

**Hope you enjoyed!3**

**Please review! ;3**

**Bye for now!^.^**


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